WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University track and field teams opened up the second semester with their annual home meet, the Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational. Both the Brandeis men and women placed second to the University of Southern Maine in the final standings. The Judges won six events on the women's side and five on the men's side.
Brandeis showed particular strength in the mile run today, with the men taking the top four spots and the women the top five places. Senior Ryan Stender (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) won the men's race with a time of 4:26.69 – ranked 31st in Division III – followed closely by a trio of classmates: Mitchell Hutton (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) in 4:29.05, Max Whitmore (Wayne, N.J./Newark Academy) in 4:29.34, and Liam Garvey (West Springfield, Mass./West Springfield) in a personal best 4:31.34.
On the women's side, junior Julia Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) blew away the field with a winning time of 5:24.06. Rookie Andrea Bolduc (Auburn, Mass./Auburn) edged out senior Kyra Shreeve (Northborough, Mass./Northborough) for second place by seven-hundredths of a second, 5:33.68 to 5:33.75. Junior Meaghan Barry (Marlborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) took fourth in 5:38.96, while classmate Rose Monahan (Essex, Vt./Essex) ran fifth in 5:43.90.
The women also had a trio of standouts in the middle-distance events. In the 600-meter run, rookie Lisbeth Valdez (Providence, R.I./Hope) won with a time of 1:41.77, more than 11 seconds faster than the runner up. In the 800, junior Doyin Ogundiran (Dix Hills, N.Y. / Half Hollow Hills East) won with a time of 2:20.14, just over a second faster than Lisbeth's twin sister Leinni Valdez (Providence, R.I./Hope). Ogundiran's time is currently the top-ranked in Division III this season, while Leinni's is fourth nationally.
The three then combined with sophomore Lydia Harris (Damariscotta, Maine / Lincoln Academy) to win the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:14.03, with Lisbeth and Doyin passing the team from Bentley and winning by more than 10 seconds and ranked 32nd in Division III.
The Judges' other two wins on the women's side came from junior Emily Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) in the 3,000-meter run, where the three-time cross country All-American and three-time NCAA track and field qualifier win handily with a time of 10:09.71, the eighth-ranked time in Division III this season; and senior Jordin Carter (Fort Wayne, Ind./R. Snyder Nelson), whose opening throw of 13.30m (43 feet, 7 ¾ inches) was good enough to capture the 20-pound weight throw.
Sophomore Danielle Bertaux (Prides Crossing, Mass./Beverly) added a third-place finish in the 3K with a time of 11:18.59
On the men's side, in addition to Stender, Brandeis picked up a trio of sprint wins. In the 55-meter hurdles, sophomore Jack Allan (Wrentham, Mass./King Phillip Regional) set a personal best with a time of 8.08 seconds. Classmate Churchill Perry (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Westminster Academy) won the 200-meter dash with a PR mark of 23.04 seconds, while graduate student Irie Gourde (Portland, Ore./York Academy, Canada) captured the 400 in 50.81 seconds. Sophomore Aaron Corin (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) earned his first collegiate win in the pole vault with a PR height of 4.25 meters (13 feet, 11 ¼ inches).
In addition to his win in the 200, Perry had a second-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 13.41 meters (44 feet even), while junior Scott Grote (Greenfield, Mass. / Greenfield) was second in the 35-pound weight throw with a heave of 12.08 meters (39 feet, 7 ¾ inches) and rookie Breylen Ammen (Lincoln, Mass. / Lincoln Sudbury) was second to former high school teammate Corin in the pole vault with a height of 3.95 meters (12 feet, 11 ½ inches). Sophomore Jacob Judd (West Hartford, CT / Conard) turned in a third-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:02.58.
The Judges return to action next weekend at the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational at Harvard.